I (don't) care
by solveariddle
Summary: Alex should have known that his refusal to marry Norma would backfire. / This is an alternate version of the party scene in 3x2 (The Arcanum Club) that served as an inspiration for an encounter between Alex and Norma shortly after her proposal in 4x1.
**A/N:** This is my alternate version of the party scene in 3x2 that now takes place _after_ Norma's proposal in 4x1. Enjoy!

 **Disclaimer:** Bates Motel belongs to A&E. I'm only playing around with the characters a bit. Thanks for letting me.

* * *

The party is well underway. Or whatever you might call it when the wealthy and powerful of White Pine Bay convene to indulge in alcohol, drugs and women.

It's after dark. The house is illuminated, but outside in the spacious garden shadows prevail. Alex Romero takes a deep breath. Events like these have never been to his liking. However, there is no way he can _not_ be here. He is the sheriff; it's his town. He has to know what is going on, and moreover, the people who are here have to know that there is no way around him, no matter what they have in mind. There was the usual back-slapping and cigar smoking. A few exceptions aside, there are only men present. Well, as long as you don't count the women who get paid for their company. Officially, it's a hunting club, an old boys network, and they like to stick with their own kind. For tonight, Alex has had his fill of it. Music and snippets of conversation fade away as he keeps on walking until there is only silence and clear night air.

Save for the one or other cabin that is. The rules are unambiguous. Alcohol and drugs in the house. Women in the cabins. That's the part Alex Romero likes. Not what is going on in the cabins, he is not here for that, but the rules. Structure in the middle of alleged chaos.

He leans against one of the trees and takes a sip of the Scotch he has brought along. The liquid burns in his throat. Alex is not drunk, but he had a few drinks already, several in fact. Traffic controls are nothing he has to worry about when he will be driving home later. No one stops the sheriff's car.

Despite being slightly intoxicated, his instincts are on high alert. He knows something is wrong before he actually sees something, his body tensing up, ready to fight. Alex drops the glass he was holding, his hand about to draw the gun if necessary. Someone is hurrying across the garden. It's too dark to make out any details, but the movements indicate without a doubt that this is not simply one of the other guests taking a walk. Whoever it is heads straight to the house, unaware that he is standing there, hidden among the shades. Just when Alex prepares for confrontation, the sky clears up and he is able to see the person in question. She has to be kidding him.

"Norma!" His whispered shout probably would have been sufficient to stop her, but he needs to be on the safe side. So he steps forward, blocking her way.

She practically bumps into him. Fortunately, her more surprised than frightened squeal is muffled because she has become entangled in his jacket. When Norma raises her hand to fight back, Alex grabs her shoulders, registering as a side note that the touch is skin to skin. She is wearing a strapless gown.

"Norma, it's me."

Recognition causes her to freeze first, then step back. A hint of embarrassment flits across her face that is quickly replaced by irritation. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"What am _I_ doing here? I am on the guest list. You're not."

She makes a face and shrugs. "So?"

" _So_?" He can't believe it. After everything that happened to her, she still keeps throwing herself into dangerous situations. "It's dangerous for you to be here," he states the obvious.

Being here uninvited is the one and only deadly sin at a convention like this that otherwise welcomes all kinds of sinners with open arms. But not an outsider that could overhear secrets only to spill them later. And this is what Norma Bates is in this town. An outsider. Constantly rubbing the right people up the wrong way. There will be deadly consequences if anyone finds out she is here.

Alex rubs his eyes, suddenly exhausted. This woman is like a magnetic field. She absorbs all his energy. "How did you get in, anyway?" He looks over her shoulder. In the distance, he can make out the fence, behind it nothing but dark woods. Alex looks back at Norma. However on earth she did it, she somehow must have climbed over the fence in that skintight dress. "Never mind," he puts her off, not that she had any intention to explain herself in the first place.

"You left me no choice," she attacks him out of thin air instead, pushing her body into his personal space.

It's the wrong moment to notice that the color of her dress enhances the light blue of her eyes, but he can't help it. Norma Bates often uses her looks to manipulate men. It's learned behavior and runs in her blood. Even when there is no intent to manipulate on her part, the effect is there to a certain extent.

"What do you mean, I left you no choice? What are you doing here, Norma? And keep your voice down." The last thing they need is a scene that attracts attention. Alex looks around. As far as he can tell, there is no one outside but them. The evening has cooled down by now. The fact that he doesn't see anyone doesn't mean that there is no one there though. She didn't see him until he stepped out of the shadows.

Norma makes a face again, getting even closer. Alex is not sure if he feels her body brushing his or if it is his imagination playing tricks on him. Wouldn't be the first time when it comes to her. The glance she darts at him is no imagination, though, and when she sways back and force slightly, he becomes aware that it is not a figment of his imagination. She presses her body against his and she does it on purpose. Whatever she is going to tell him next, Norma Bates has to get across a message and he has a sense of foreboding what it will be.

This morning she showed up on his doorstep and asked him to marry her. Not for reasons that were anywhere near romantic but because she lacks insurance and he has one. Plain and simple. Norman needs treatment for whatever issues he has and Norma, of course, only wants the best for him. So it has to be an expensive, prestigious institution she will never be able to finance from own resources.

Of all the surreal situations Alex Romero has experienced ever since he met her, the marriage proposal exceeded the rest by far. And it hit him. Hard. Because that proposal came along with an offer. Basically she offered herself as bargain. _I know you're attracted to me. I'll sleep with you._ It made him flinch albeit she must not have noticed because it got even worse. _I don't care. I really don't._ He still can't believe she said that. After everything that happened, after everything he did for her, and most of all, after everything that _did not_ happen between them but almost did. Is that what it all boils down to? _Don't touch me_ when he tries to get closer to her, but _I'll sleep with you; I don't care_ when she wants something?

"You don't want to help me. So I have to find help elsewhere," her voice brings him back to the here and now. Norma's intonation is quiet, too quiet, in direct contradiction to the blue steel that pierces right through him. She is about to snap.

"Norma..." Alex raises a hand, certain now where this is going, but it's too late. She's on a roll.

"Since you insist on keeping your insurance all to yourself even if you don't need it and even if it means that _my son_ will be brought back to this horrible place in less than 36 hours against my will, I have to do something about it. I overheard two of the…" There is a brief pause in her flow as contempt washes over her delicate features. "... _girls_ that work here and that booked a room at the motel." She frowns. "What did you think I would do? Sit tight and let them take Norman away from me? They are all here. _Rich_ people, _powerful_ people. If you don't help me, one of them has to."

If there is one predictable thing regarding Norma Bates, then it is her unpredictability. She doesn't make plans; she turns unformed ideas into action and hopes for the best. In Norma's world finding a husband or someone who is willing to pay for Norman's stay in the stretch of less than two days is the logical thing to do. And she will do everything to accomplish that goal, including offering herself as bargain not only to him but to everyone who is ready to take the bait. She didn't explicitly say it, but it's there between the lines. Let alone that he basically told her to do so. _You're an attractive woman. I'm sure you'll find someone else pretty quickly._ So she would have gone straight up to the house full of despicable, power-obsessed men and would have offered herself if he hadn't stopped her. He should have known that every time he thinks he does the right thing when it comes to her it backfires. But he will be damned if he lets her throw herself to the wolves and she will be damned if she doesn't stop her mind games.

He grabs her shoulders again, probably a bit too roughly judging from the way Norma screws up her face. Only for a split second though, then she is back in survival mode, unimpressed with another dirty trick of life. Alex tends to forget, and deliberately so because it's too painful to think of it, that Norma is a victim of violence and sexual abuse as well as a master of covering up and pretending. One often times goes along with the other. _If I don't see it, it's not there. If I don't feel it, it doesn't hurt._ His non-verbal reaction earns him an annoyed look but other than that, Norma seems to have calmed down a bit. At least he seems to have prevented another of her legendary conniptions.

"What is wrong with you?" she asks.

"You can't go to the house. I won't let you."

"Why?"

"I told you. It's too dangerous."

"That's why you think I can't go. But why won't you let me? You don't care."

Their bodies are too close to have this conversation. He shouldn't have touched her, he should let go of her, but that's the one thing he can't do. Literally and figuratively. Her breath quickens. If she wasn't that oblivious to his advances, he would assume she is as affected by their closeness as he is. The way things are, she can't be, or can she? Being with her is like falling, constantly waiting for the impact.

He is spared a response when the door of a cabin close by opens and a woman stumbles out. Alex pushes Norma away behind some bushes. The woman heads for the house, obviously inebriated. Nevertheless she detects him before he can backtrack into the shadows. And not only that.

"You're the sheriff," she coos. "Hi, I'm Mia."

Alex has no idea why she knows him. He has never seen her before. Maybe they show his picture around and make bets whether one of the call girls will score with him. And indeed, she wastes no time, pressing herself against him, an irritating repetition of Norma's earlier actions. He tries to make out Norma's outline behind the bushes, but there is only darkness. Perhaps she took the hint and went home. Or not. Alex hears a twig crackle and sees a shimmer of blonde hair. She's still there, watching him. He wishes it was her perfume he is smelling and not a cheap imitation, wishes it were her hands touching him and not the hands of an unwelcome stranger. Most of all, though, he wishes Norma would want to sleep with him and not just offer it as part of a deal. That's her answer. The one he couldn't bring himself to say. That aside from the danger she would be in if he let her go to the house, he can't bear the thought that one of the men touches her, let alone takes her up on her offer.

Meanwhile Mia is busy with his belt and zipper. Thinking about Norma, knowing that she is there in the dark watching him, has caused a physical reaction that the woman he has never seen before takes as an invitation to proceed further. For a brief moment that he won't be proud of later when he recalls the events of this night, the wish to let her do so as a crude form of revenge on Norma is almost overwhelming. But when Alex feels the woman fumble around where he wants someone else's hands, there is no doubt what he does or does not want. He stops her just as she is about to kneel down in front of him.

"No. Go inside." He gently pulls her up. None of this is her fault. She is just doing her job, sort of.

"I can make you feel good."

If Alex Romero collected a dollar for every time he heard that line on an event like this, he'd be a rich man.

"Yeah, I bet you can. Now go inside." He carefully shoves her in the right direction and watches her until he is sure that she makes it.

He is aware Norma is standing right behind him even before he turns around again because it's back. Her perfume. Well, that, plus she didn't exactly mind whether the bushes rustled as she approached him. Restraint is a stranger to Norma, dangerous situation or not. And trust her to try to provoke him the moment they are face to face.

"That was chivalrous. You didn't have to turn her down only because I am here."

Her attempt fails miserably though. Instead Alex can't remember when words have made him so happy before. Because that gift he has to know whether someone is lying or telling the truth and that comes in handy being the sheriff? That gift tells him that the casual tone of voice Norma was aiming for is fake. She doesn't think what he did was chivalrous. She _hates_ what happened. And just like that he has the upper hand.

Alex looks at Norma, just looks until she starts to fidget uncomfortably under his scrutinizing gaze.

"Ask me again," he prompts her.

"Ask you what?"

"Why I wouldn't let you go to the house."

She stares at him, unsettled by the change in his mood, trying to find out what is going on, but she stands no chance. Her conniptions are his pokerface and she can't read him for the world, no matter how hard she tries. She knows _something_ is going on, though, something that carries the risk to get under her skin. Since Norma doesn't admit defeat, she goes for the only option left whenever she feels defeated and turns around to leave.

It's only then that Alex realizes how much the occurrences have thrown her off balance. Norma Bates seems to have forgotten about her plan that involves the one person that is more important to her than anybody else, namely her son. And he is the reason for it. An adrenaline rush floods through him. They have been out here in the open for much too long, but there is no chance in hell that he let's her leave now.

Alex catches Norma's wrist. She jerks to a halt but remains half-turned away from him, shaking her head. _No._

"Norma..."

He tugs at her arm and she stumbles, steadying herself with one hand against his chest, her face still turned away from him.

"Why won't you help me?" her voice is thin, like a child's. "I need someone to help me."

"I want to help you, Norma. But not like that." Not by marrying her and making her feel obligated to trade herself in.

"Why not?"

"Because marriage might not mean anything to you, but it means something to me."

There is a reason Alex Romero never married. He has no intention to repeat the farce of a marriage his parents had. A long-term commitment never seemed to be even remotely within reach, let alone one that includes a lifetime. Until recently, that is. But while he began to reconsider his position, she showed up on his door step and poured those torrents of verbal aberrations over his thoughts and feelings.

For once, Norma doesn't come up with a quick-witted reply but lets his words sink in. Alex can only guess that she is thinking about her marriages. Two, as far as he knows, and none of them happy. Eventually she turns her head to look at him. Her otherwise radiant eyes are darkened by sadness. Alex has seen her sad or crying, but this is a degree of honesty and vulnerability she hasn't shown him before. It makes him wonder whether there is more to her background story than what he already knows about Keith Summers and her abusive husband. It would be an explanation for her inconsistent behavior. How she can offer him a marriage deal like that and mean it and only a few hours later can be shaken by what just happened between them. Alex has seen his fair share of victims of abuse in his life. Way too many for his taste. What they have in common is the ability to compartmentalize.

"OK," Norma says, shrugging. Alex knows that shrug. It implies some kind of acceptance. She wipes away some tears and sniffles, rubbing her arms against the cold.

"Here." Alex takes off his jacket and puts it around her shoulders. She must be freezing in her strapless gown.

"Thank you." Norma grasps the jacket lapel, a smile appearing on her face. "It smells like you."

How is he supposed to ever deny her anything? Alex thinks about the money hidden under his floor, about his insurance, about whatever might have happened in her life that he knows nothing about as yet and that might have shaped her. A woman that can as easily break someone as be broken herself.

"Go home, Norma," he says. "We'll figure something out first thing tomorrow morning."

"Really?" That raises her spirit. Norma's smile turns from crooked into disarming. "Why all of a sudden? Never mind," she corrects herself immediately, not wanting him to back off.

Alex answers, anyway. Must be the Scotch talking or could be the truth, probably both, "Because I care."

Norma's smile disappears, and for a spilt second, he thinks she will cry again, but she doesn't. She swallows, holds his gaze. Then her face becomes a blur and he feels her lips on his. When he realizes what is happening and his hands reach for her hips of their own accord, it's already over, his hands grasping at nothing. Norma has turned around, stepped out of his reach, and is walking back to the fence.

It's a good thing though. The walking part. She doesn't run, doesn't feel the need to flee, and it might be his imagination playing tricks on him another time, but Alex could swear he heard her mumble something when she leaned in to kiss him. _I know._

That's the thing about Norma Bates' overhasty actions. It might look as if she has no plan, but if anything, you should never underestimate her.

* * *

 **Fin**


End file.
